TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (2) TMI 186
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.... Special CBI Court-I, Ernakulam to Special CBI Court-II, Ernakulam, where the case pertaining to the predicate offences, i.e offences under Section 13(1)(e) r/w 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 ('PC Act, 1988' for short), numbered as S.C. No. 329/2017, has been pending, for consideration of the same simultaneously by the same Judge. Sabu K.S is the sole accused in S.C. No. 329/2017 also. 2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Special Public Prosecutor appearing for the 1st respondent (CBI) and the learned Standing Counsel representing the Directorate of Enforcement of Cochin Zonal Office, in detail. Perused the relevant provisions. 3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that Annexure A final report (pertaining to C.C. No. 3/2014) was filed alleging commission of scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act ('PML Act' for short) and Annexure B is the complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate against the petitioner alleging commission of offences punishable under Sections 3 and 4 of the PML Act. According to the learned counsel, the allegations in Annexures A and B are almost same and interconnected, a....
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.... seek committal of a case relating to the scheduled offence to the Special Court when cognizance of the scheduled offence was taken by a Special Court, the same would not operate as an absolute bar for an accused to file a petition under the provisions of BNSS seeking transfer for valid grounds. 6. In this connection, it is necessary to refer Section 44 of the PML Act and Section 447 of BNSS, which are extracted hereunder: "Section 44 of PML Act: Offences triable by Special Courts. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974),-- [(a) an offence punishable under section 4 and any scheduled offence connected to the offence under that section shall be triable by the Special Court constituted for the area in which the offence has been committed: Provided that the Special Court, trying a scheduled offence before the commencement of this Act, shall continue to try such scheduled offence; or]; (b) a Special Court may, upon a complaint made by an authority authorised in this behalf under this Act take [cognizance of offence under section 3, without the accused being committed to it for trial]; ....
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....hereto; or (b) that some question of law of unusual difficulty is likely to arise; or (c) that an order under this section is required by any provision of this Sanhita, or will tend to the general convenience of the parties or witnesses, or is expedient for the ends of justice, it may order--- (i) that any offence be inquired into or tried by any Court not qualified under sections 197 to 205 (both inclusive), but in other respects competent to inquire into or try such offence; (ii) that any particular case or appeal, or class of cases or appeals, be transferred from a Criminal Court subordinate to its authority to any other such Criminal Court of equal or superior jurisdiction; (iii) that any particular case be committed for trial to a Court of Session; or (iv) that any particular case or appeal be transferred to and tried before itself. (2) The High Court may act either on the report of the lower Court, or on the application of a party interested, or on its own initiative: Provided that no application shall lie to the High Court for transferring a case from one Criminal Court to another Criminal Court in the s....
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....ly, in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, to arrest, search and seizure, attachment, confiscation investigation, prosecution and all other proceedings under this Act. Therefore, insofar as the provisions which are not inconsistent with the provisions of the PML Act are concerned, provisions of the Cr.P.C or BNSS (as the case may be) would apply in relation to cases under the PML Act as well. On a perusal of Section 44(1)(c) of the PML Act, it is evident that the same is an enabling provision inasmuch as the authority who filed complaint under the PML Act to request for committal of a case where cognizance for the schedule offences under the PML Act was taken by a court other than the PML Act court, so as to get committal of the case involving scheduled offence also to the PML Act court. 9. It is not in dispute that joint trial of a case involving scheduled offence and PML Act offences is an outright impossibility. That is to say, only after finding the accused guilty for the scheduled offence/offences, on conclusion of trial, the trial of an accused, who involved in the PML Act offence is possible. Be it so, in view of Section 44(1)(c) of PML Ac....
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.... or recalling cases including revisions and appeals already made over to an Additional Sessions Judge, provided the trial or hearing of the cases or revisions or appeals as the case may be, has not commenced. It is an administrative exercise of power by the Sessions Judge. (2) An interested litigant is entitled to move the Sessions Judge for transferring cases including revisions and appeals at any stage from the court of an Additional Sessions Judge, if such transfer is expedient for the ends of justice. (3) Unless the litigant thus first moves the Sessions Judge, an application for transfer under Section 407 before the High Court is not maintainable. (4) The Additional Sessions Judge concerned is entitled to make a report to the Sessions Judge for transferring any cases including revisions and appeals pending before him irrespective of the stage of such matters. Thus the legal position is not in dispute that an interested litigant is entitled to move for transferring a case from one criminal court to another criminal court in the same Sessions division, before the Sessions Court. But in terms of the proviso to Section 447 of BNSS, no application shall lie to the High Court for tr....